Horizon Equine Integrative Medicine-Renschler Veterinary Services, LLC

08/06/2025

Two consecutive days of acupuncture posts! What is going on in these photos??? This horse had a proximal suspensory injury, and we already treated him with PulseVet shockwave therapy. I decided that he might also benefit from electroacupuncture to move stagnation from the area. Here we are treating the Small Intestine (outside of the leg) and Large Intestine (inner leg) channels. I had also placed a dry needle in PC-9 (endpoint of pericardium channel, between the heel bulbs). Blood freely poured out of that point when the needle was removed--release of stagnant energy!

08/05/2025

Treating with acupuncture after a dental--this is "integrative dentistry"! Horses with TMJ issues often have tight fascia in the head and poll. After I correct the structural issues in the teeth, I will often put in a few acupuncture needles to treat the fascia. Here I used Da feng men, GB-20, and BL-10.

07/25/2025

Visiting Chi University in FL for the advanced equine acupuncture course, so I will bring home some new techniques and principles to apply to patients. If you aren't continuing to learn, stagnation will occur!

07/08/2025

Amazing--The first known steel acupuncture needles from 2000 years ago were found in an emperor's tomb! The diameter (0.3-0.5 mm) was even close to what we use today.

The 2,000-year-old tools represent a crucial moment in Chinese medicine.

04/24/2025

Come to The National Drive Spring Drive this weekend at Hoosier Horse Park! I will be speaking on Body Lameness in Horses at 2PM Saturday.

Join other carriage driving enthusiasts for fun, friendship and learning. Take advantage of informative talks, fun activities and social gatherings.

03/26/2025

Let's talk about INCISOR DIAGONAL bites. I love finding these in a new patient's mouth, because I know that I can correct it and the horse's body will improve.

Unlike the cheek teeth, owners can easily see the incisors by lifting their horse's lips. However, the majority of my clients seem to be unaware of the situation until I point it out. So LIFT YOUR HORSE'S LIPS and take a look.

Here are a series of diagonals that I saw just in the past month. Note that most of them (66% upon my review of records) have a slant to the left side of the horse. These are associated with a shift in the lower jaw to the side of the slant, so that the central incisors no longer line up. Consequently, the upper incisors overgrow on the opposite side, blocking the forward jaw motion. The situation will continue to worsen over time.

A shift in the jaw will put tension on the hyoid apparatus (connected to the tongue), causing downstream effects in the poll, sternum, lower neck, diaphragm, lumbar spine, pelvis/sacrum, stifle, and basically everything in the body. Horses with a DGL-3 are typically restricted in a left sidebend at the poll, and weight the left front foot more. This creates a larger, lower foot on the left front and a more contracted foot with a higher heel on the right front.

Occasionally, a diagonal bite can be caused by a primary dental issue (e.g., fractured tooth) leading to the horse chewing only on one side. However, more of them are likely caused by body asymmetry causing tension patterns on the TMJ. This explains why there is a higher prevalence of left slants, as most horses bend easier to the left for a variety of reasons.

Despite the inciting cause, leaving a diagonal bite will make it challenging, or impossible, to straighten the horse through bodywork or classical training. So many horses have monthly chiropractic, acupuncture, massage therapy, craniosacral, etc., for the issues to keep returning. Few people seem to realize that correcting the structural issues in the mouth (alone) will get the horse further than adjusting them over, and over, and over again.

Even more challenging is that most of these horses (all of the horses with incisors pictured here) have had dental care regularly by otherwise competent veterinarians. Therefore, dental issues have been "ruled out" as cause of their body or behavioral issues. There is an irrational fear among some veterinarians about working on the incisors; therefore, most just do not touch the incisors unless some pathology is present. I learned almost nothing about balancing incisors from conventional veterinary continuing education.

Reductions in diagonal bites can be done safely by monitoring the color of the secondary dentin overlying the incisor pulps. Incisors should never be cut down, but rather a disk can be used to make micro-adjustments. Millimeters matter here, and the correct incisor angle must be maintained. Incisor work is an art, as well as a science, and is an important part of the standards for International Association of Equine Dentistry (IAED)-certified practitioners.

03/16/2025

Equine Functional Medicine is a good way of describing this approach to patients. I don’t approach patients from the perspective of “just“ doing bodywork, acupuncture, dentistiry, etc. Some questions to consider:
Does your horse move in a correct way (flexing at the lumbosacral junction)? Is the shoulder/scapula/irbs/sternum moving correctly? Is there visible asymmetry? What does the muscle development reveal about the way this horse moves and his static posture? Is the dental balance creating any structural/TMJ issues? Do the feet provide a correct basis of support for the body? If there is a limb lameness, what were the factors that caused that (as chronic injuries don’t just show up out of the blue)? Is the horse’s diet contributing to overall body inflammation? What lifestyle factors might be contributing to stress and body issues?

Why is your horse’s lameness a mystery?

“To ask the ‘right’ question is already half the solution of a problem.” Carl Jung

We cannot solve most problems because we are asking the wrong question, and thus getting the wrong or not complete answer.

What is the definition of lameness?
- Lameness is characterized by an abnormal gait, with scoring 0-5, AAEP
- Lameness in horses refers to a change or abnormality in a horse's gait or stance, petMD
- Lameness is a symptom that something within the limb or body hurts enough that the horse alters its gait to control the amount of load the affected limb has to, UC Davis
- Lameness is an abnormality in gait or inability to use one or more limbs, Merriam Webster

Stop asking which leg is the horse lame in. Instead, we need to be asking:
- What is dysfunctional in the horse?
- What is the primary, secondary, and tertiary issues?
- Is the painful spot the real problem?
- Which dysfunction is causing a performance concern?
- Which biotensegrity dysfunctions are causing limb pain?
- Is there a systemic condition causing body dysfunction?
- Which dysfunctions are causing issues and which are helping?
- What is this horse’s nutrition, environment, farrier care, stress levels currently?
- What impacts are the owner making on the horse?
- Does the horse have structural defects?

When we start asking better questions, we will be significantly more likely to get better results. Shifting from traditional equine sports medicine to Equine Functional Medicine – has been the paradigm change we needed at Denali Equine to start solving the mysteries.

02/26/2025

New custom painted dental speculum!

02/19/2025

Let’s talk about “equine dentists”. This was inspired by yet another post on one of the Indiana equine groups, where people debate using either vets or “equine dentists” for their horses’ dental care. First of all, the term dentist should be a protected term (similar to “physical therapist”), as it indicates a Doctor of Dental Surgery for humans. This involves 8+ years of formal postgraduate training plus licensure by exam. Dentists can perform surgery, and diagnose and treat oral conditions. (Side note: my dentist also focuses on integrative dental medicine, or how dental care relates to overall health). Non-veterinarian ”equine dentists” can encompass anyone who self-proclaims that they can work on horses’ teeth. This could be the local Amish guy who charges $10, a farrier who also decided to float off sharp points on teeth, a person who went to a weekend workshop (yes, I have seen that advertised), someone who attended some classes at an equine dental school, or a highly skilled, certified individual who regularly attends continuing education and maintains a license in states like TX. None of these individuals are “dentists”, because true veterinary dental specialists exist, and they have a veterinary degree plus residency training and board certification. This is a surgical specialty, just as human dentists are dental surgeons. Any other providers of dental care for horses are more appropriately called equine dental practitioners (EDPs) or equine dental technicians (EDTs). What is the role of EDPs? It is not to replace the veterinarian, but to provide routine occlusal equilibration of the mouth. Occlusal equilibration (balancing the mouth to ensure optimum contact between the teeth and TMJ function) is a skill that takes a long time to develop. This is a trade, similar to farriery. It cannot be learned in a weekend, and it really cannot be mastered without mentorship from others. It is difficult for veterinarians to put in the time to learn this skill (ask me, i just became certified by the IAED!). Ideally, EDPs would have to be licensed and certified, and work in conjunction with veterinarians for sedation. This is what happens in the best model in other states, They must be able to perform an oral exam with a bright light source, speculum, and sedation to see any possible pathology (and refer that to the veterinarian). Horses needing radiographs or extractions are sent to the veterinarian. Mutual respect should be given for each other’s roles. So to anyone questioning whether they should use an “equine dentist” or a vet, the answer is not so simple. We have limited access to certified EDPs in Indiana since they cannot legally work here. Most importantly, horses need good occlusal equilibration to perform well and maintain oral health. They also need a regular oral exam with a speculum, bright light source, and sedation. If you had a random guy float off sharp points, congratulations…you failed your horse. If your vet reached in and declared that your horse‘s teeth were “fine” for the year without looking, congratulations…you failed your horse. That is my harsh wake-up call for the day! (By the way… stop calling people “equine dentists” unless you are referring to AVDC-certified veterinary dentists)!

01/30/2025

Yesterday I passed the practical exam, so I am now a certified equine dental practitioner for the International Association of Equine Dentistry (IAED)!

I hold many certifications, and some are merely a piece of paper from completing a course. However, the IAED certification is from an independent body and required demonstration of skills to a high standard (enough that passing the exam is not a given, even for someone with years of experience). I have spent the past 4.5 years attending courses and workshops (in ID, TX, KY, NJ, FL), shadowing, reading, practicing, and observing horses before and after. And this is only the beginning of a lifetime of further development.

Very few DVM's have the IAED certification (most of them being international vets), as it is hard to put the time into developing skills in occlusal equilibration while maintaining a practice.

Thanks to everyone who helped get me to this point!

01/16/2025

ALL EQUINE DENTISTRY IS NOT EQUAL!!
Here is a fairly common case scenario. This horse "just had his teeth done", but was still spooky and refusing to go forward under saddle. I scanned his body, and he was reactive almost everywhere, but especially at the indicator points for TMJ-myofascial pain. A quick glance at his incisors showed a shift in the jaw to the right, so I discussed with his owner that better dentistry could help.
The hand floater had removed some sharp enamel points (not all), and basically done no other work, leaving giant hooks on the first upper cheek teeth. I also corrected excessive transverse ridging, reduced lower ramps, and worked on the table angles, ultimately restoring jaw motion forward-back and side-side (this was completely locked going the the L before work).

If you are using a hand floater because you think it saves you money, it is going to cost you more in the long run. More body issues/behavior problems/turnover of horses to compete in your chosen sport, more vet bills to treat compensatory lameness from TMJ pain, more feed to maintain your horse's condition, more senior feeding when your horse's teeth wear out prematurely!

Now to make it even more confusing, having your vet perform dentistry is also not a sure way of knowing that it was correct. However, there is an international equine dental group (International Association of Equine Dentistry) that holds practitioners to a higher standard. You can search for IAED members through their director

12/17/2024

Balance pads like those from SureFoot Equine are a great tool for any horse owner! Although they seem like a simple concept, standing on foam pads has multiple benefits.

Horses will release tension patterns, thus providing "bodywork" in a hands-off manner. I regularly use the pads with my own herd, as it is quick and easy compared with a session of acupuncture or bodywork.

Does your horse seem stiff/off? Stand them on the pads!

Sore from a hard training session or having some back pain? Stand them on the pads!

Having trouble cooperating for the farrier? Stand them on the pads!

The pads also improve proprioception (body awareness) and can be used in a sequential manner to improve posture leading to correct movement and muscle development. Head over to Heart Equine to learn more about that.